Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 27 Jan 23

27 January 2023 @HybridanLLP Status of this Note and Disclaimer This document has been issued to you by Hybridan LLP for information purposes only and should not be construed in any circumstances as an offer to sell or solicitation of any offer to buy any security or other financial instrument, nor shall it, or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied upon in connection with, any contract relating to such action. This document has no regard for the specific investment object

YouGov - Resilience in a more difficult macro environment

YouGov’s trading update covering the six months to end January confirms that the group is on track to meet the full year market revenue consensus of £264m, 19% ahead of the prior year. This is a little ahead of our modelling (£255m), so we have adjusted accordingly. Our operating profit forecast is unchanged, reflecting a slight shift in mix towards Custom Research, which runs with structurally lower operating margins than Data Products. The search for a new CEO is ongoing, with current CEO Step

YouGov - Revenue momentum remains strong

YouGov’s FY22 results (July year-end) show 20% underlying revenue growth, boosted to 31% by currency. Progress was good in all three segments, with a particularly encouraging performance in Custom Research, which is increasingly about connected data rather than one-off projects. FY23 is the last year of YouGov’s FYP3 strategic plan, with some elements of the ambitious built-in targets easier to achieve than others. A new FY24–26 plan is being drawn up, overseen by CEO Stephan Shakespeare, who tr

YouGov - Cautiously optimistic for FY23

YouGov’s year-end trading update (to end-July) indicates results in line with management expectations, with underlying growth across all segments and a ‘modest’ step up in operating margin. Our FY22 forecasts are therefore unchanged, as are those for FY23. We now also publish our first thoughts on FY24, showing continuing progress on revenue and margin as the increased productisation drives efficiencies. YouGov’s share price performance year-to-date has been affected by the rotation away from an

YouGov - Sustained momentum

YouGov’s H122 results show impressive underlying revenue growth of 25%, led by strong progress in Data Products and Custom Research, with the United States and Europe the best-performing regions. Sales momentum has continued in H222 and FY22 results are expected to be slightly ahead of earlier guidance. We increase our revenue forecasts by £5m for FY22 and FY23, keeping our operating margin assumptions unchanged (raise in gross margin offset by higher costs). As with other high-growth stocks, th

YouGov - Custom tracking driving growth

YouGov’s trading update for H122 describes continuing good growth, notably in custom tracking and data products, indicating full-year results ‘slightly’ ahead of management expectations. Our revenue forecasts were at the low end of the range and, also adjusting for December’s acquisition of LINK, we lift our FY22e number by 14% while moderating our margin assumption from 17.9% to 17.0% to reflect additional investment to drive future growth. We expect a good uplift in revenue to £250m for FY23,

YouGov - Trading update and acquisition

YouGov has issued a detailed trading update ahead of its full year results, now set for publication on 19 October, post a slight delay on finalising the tax position. Revenues of £169m are up 18% on an underlying basis, with an improvement in adjusted operating margin from 14.3%% to 15.1%, broadly as expected. YouGov also announced the acquisition of UK adtech company Rezonence (price undisclosed), which should facilitate data acquisition from a wider range of participants beyond panel, at lower

Hybridan Small Cap Feast 12/10/2021

Joiners No Joiners Today. Leavers Arrow Global has left the Main Market following a takeover. St Peter Port Capital has left AIM after entering a solvent members' voluntary liquidation of the Company. What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen? Light Science Tech Holdings, the controlled environment agriculture technology and contract electronics manufacturing Group to join AIM. Raising £5m. Expected mkt cap £17.4m. Due 15 Oct. Harmony Energy Income Trust to join the Specialist Fund Segment of the Main M

YouGov - Strong sales pipeline

YouGov’s year-end trading update indicates that results will be in line with management expectations, with a strong sales pipeline giving confidence for further progress in FY22. Particularly encouraging is that the progress is described as across ‘all divisions and geographies’ (on an underlying basis). The group is broadening its sales resource to keep driving the strategic, longer-term deals that are building recurring revenues and it continues to build its presence in the important US market

Small Cap Feast: 30/07/21

Joiners: HydrogenOne Capital Growth (HGEN.L) has joined the Premium Segment of the Main Market. HGEN is targeting a raise of £250m. First London listed investment fund dedicated to clean hydrogen. The IPO raised gross proceeds of £107m, including a strategic cornerstone investment of £25m by INEOS Energy. Leavers: All Active Asset Capital has left AIM. What’s cooking in the IPO kitchen? SpectrumX Holdings, a leader in proprietary formulations of HOCL (Hypochlorous Acid), is expected to list o

YouGov - Larger contract wins underpin growth

Interim results are as indicated at the period end, with 9% underlying growth. As flagged, the closure of the Kurdistan operation and adverse forex weighed on the statutory figures. A strong sales performance gives good momentum into H221 and through to FY22, with a greater number of larger, strategic contracts now on the books. We have lifted our estimated FY21 revenue by 6%, resulting in an uplift to adjusted EPS of 8%. YouGov remains valued towards the top of its peer set, reflecting its stro

YouGov - Data Services takes up the H121 running

YouGov’s pre-close update indicates trading in line to meet the full-year target of its growth plan, with a heavier weighting towards H2. This reflects several larger, more strategic projects won by Data Products and Custom Research over autumn and winter to date, which will start to contribute in H221 and provide good momentum into FY22. H121 results will show a pick-up in Data Services as clients looked to tactical projects to inform their marketing strategies. Our full-year forecasts are unch

YouGov - Bringing on the next generation

YouGov’s capital markets event cast the spotlight on the next generation of its client offering, focusing on YouGov Direct, YouGov Chat and YouGov Safe. All of these are already being rolled out commercially. They clearly show the direction of travel to enable the group to scale more effectively and efficiently. All are predicated on the YouGov member being the data owner and granting explicit permission for how that data is used. No new financial information was disclosed, and our forecasts are

YouGov - Data-led progress

Full year results were in line with the July trading update, a little ahead of our published estimates, with revenues up 12% and adjusted operating profit up 18%. Data Products (one-third of group revenue) performed particularly well, with underlying revenues up 21% and operating margin up 70bp to 35.0%. A strong balance sheet (net cash of £35.3m) supports stepped-up investment in both technology and in panel, underpinning the ambitious targets set out for the three remaining years of management

Small Cap Feast

AEX Gold (AEXG.L) has joined AIM alongside a £42.5m placing at 45p. Mkt Cap £79.7m. The Company, led by CEO Eldur Ólafsson, has established the largest land package of gold assets in Greenland with a current portfolio of licences covering 3,356 square kilometres, in the two known gold belts in Southern Greenland, the Nanortalik and Tartoq gold belts. Nalunaq is a high-grade gold asset with an updated Inferred Mineral Resource covering 422,770 tonnes at 18.5 grams per tonne of gold, or 250,970 ou

IP Group - Several potential portfolio catalysts on the horizon

IP Group’s NAV declined by 13% in total return (TR) terms in FY23, affected by continued soft valuations across venture capital (VC) markets, as well as funding delays at some of its holdings. That said, management indicated that many of IP Group’s portfolio companies continued to make strong progress. Its maturing portfolio offers a number of potential NAV triggers and is now available at a wide 59% discount to NAV. We note that, as at end-2023, only 14% of IP Group’s portfolio was valued based

Hardman & Co Insight: 2023 was an annus horribilis for Quoted UK Infrastructure and Renewable Energy

The focus of Hardman & Co Research is on the nine quoted Infrastructure Investment Companies (IICs) and on the 22 Renewable Energy Infrastructure Funds (REIFs): the stocks analysed are all members of the Association of Investment Companies (AIC). We are updating our publication of January 2023, assessing both the lacklustre share price performances during 2023 and the key issues, including interest rates, inflation and power prices. As a 31-strong group, its combined market capitalisation is no

Meet, beat, repeat

FY23 - preparing for two high impact wells this year

LIBERUM: The Liberum Leisure Digest: NLW increase - pricing power is key

The Hardman & Co Monthly: April 2024

Feature article: Steady as she goes, but could be better: A review of investment company liquidity since 2016 Liquidity is the lifeblood of equity markets. The measurement of liquid asset availability to a market or company is a way of gauging a market’s health. This article builds on our previous work, which analysed the liquidity data for non-financial trading companies, by applying the same analytical techniques to the investment companies (IC) space. We analyse liquidity for ICs as a whol

Hybridan Small Cap Feast - 16/04/2024

16th April 2024 * A corporate client of Hybridan LLP ** Arranged by type of listing and date of announcement *** Alphabetically arranged **** Potential means Intention to Float (ITF) has been announced Dish of the day Admissions: Delistings: What’s baking in the oven? ** Potential**** Initial Public Offerings: Reverse Takeovers: Electric Guitar (ELEG.L) Concurrent with its Admission to trading on AIM, Electric Guitar is proposing to acquire the entire issued share capital of 3radical Limited for

Braemar - Diversification paying dividends

Braemar’s FY24 trading update was in line with expectations, with revenues of c £150m and underlying operating profit of c £18m. Underlying operations continue to expand and diversify and the company remains well-positioned to drive its future growth strategy. The trading outlook is promising and Braemar should be able to leverage its strong balance sheet in pursuit of strategic growth. We have maintained our underlying estimates for FY24 and FY25, but edge down the valuation based on the lower

Trinity Delta Lighthouse: Avacta

Trinity Delta view: The proprietary pre|CISION platform is key to Avacta’s investment case, hence updated data that continue to support key hypotheses for AVA6000 are reassuring. Future efficacy data from studies planned to start in H224 will be key, and could also help to more broadly validate pre|CISION. The recent £31.1m fundraise (March 2024 Lighthouse), which provides a cash runway of c 24 months ie into early 2026, will be used to advance the therapeutics pipeline, in particular AVA6000, a

hVIVO - FY 2023 results, revenue in-line, margin better, future is bright

hVIVO has delivered FY 2023A results in-line with the 30 January 2024 TU, with total customer revenues of £56m, growth of 16% versus 2022A. Other income related to tax credits added another £2.6m. 2024 revenue guidance of £62m has been reiterated, representing 11% growth over 2023A, and ahead of the £60m that we had previously forecast. The company has good visibility with the 2024 figure, with 90% already being covered by the existing orderbook (stands at £80m at the end of 2023), as well as in

Avacta Group - AACR update

As pre-announced, Avacta has presented the results of the 3-weekly P1 Arm 1 study of its AVA6000 lead clinical asset, based on the pre|CISION™ drug development platform at the American Association for Cancer Research's annual general meeting. The update does not cover progress on the ongoing 2-weekly dosing study which is underway, and Avacta confirmed current guidance on timing including being on track to begin the dose expansion study in 2H24. There are compelling updates on the progress repor

Morning Note – 9 April 2024

LIBERUM: Agents of change: Evolving for modern demands

Allenby Capital: Deltic Energy - Update

Deltic Energy plc (DELT.L) has announced some positive news concerning its 50% interest in the Selene joint-venture with Shell UK Ltd. The announcement concerns a farm-out to Dana Petroleum Ltd of a 25% interest in Licence P2437 which contains the Selene prospect. The farm-out calls for Deltic retaining a highly meaningful 25% interest in one of the most interesting prospects in terms of risk profile and scale in the Southern North Sea (SNS) Basin while largely eliminating exposure to the cost o

Top of the Pops

We reveal the winners of our investment trust ratings for 2024... Our ratings seek to reward closed-ended funds which deliver attractive and persistent performance characteristics in three categories which we think match up to broad goals investors usually have: long-term growth, income and growth, and high current income. This includes strong performance versus a fund’s underlying market, as well as attractive risk characteristics which we think suggests they could continue to be premium optio